With his Japanese opponent Takenori Sato clinging in agony to Erick Silva's left leg in their fight at UFC Fight Night 36 in Jaragua, Brazil, the hometown favourite twisted his body and hit Sato three times with the back of his heel.

They might not have hurt Sato all that much in the grand scheme of things – the body kick and the devastating punches that followed did the trick in that regard – but it was somehow fitting that, in a country famous for its soccer stars, a Brazilian used a move straight out of Ronaldo's playbook.

Silva followed the cheeky kicks off with 11 straight punches to Sato's head, and the ref stepped in only 52 seconds into the first round.

Afterwards, Silva said the body kick that set up the whole sequence was something he and his team had been working on specifically for the fight.